CHAPTER 693: CHAPTER 624: TORN AND STITCHED SOUL

She carefully chose concepts that Gu Shouzhuo could understand, "The ’external force suture’ and ’trajectory distortion’ you mentioned... could it be... related to a power that transcends the boundaries of time?" She tentatively introduced the concept of "timeline."

"Boundaries of time?" Gu Shouzhuo’s eyes shone brightly, like stars suddenly ignited in the night sky.

He didn’t answer immediately but turned and walked towards a smooth stone bench at the edge of the stone platform, sat down slowly, and gestured for Yan Yueqing to sit down as well.

Seeing Gu Shouzhuo invite his daughter, Jiang Yu knew they had important matters to discuss. He nodded slightly to Mr. Gu as a sign of acknowledgment, then turned and left.

The wind was very quiet.

Gu Shouzhuo sat on the stone bench, slightly raised his head, and his gaze seemed to penetrate the dense bamboo leaves, projecting into the vast depths of the sky, as if sensing something.

"The universe operates with an eternal and immutable trajectory, known as the ’Heavenly Dao.’

Gu Shouzhuo’s voice carried a mysterious rhythm, "Individual lives also have their ’life trajectories’, like the movement of stars, each with its own path."

He withdrew his gaze, refocused on Yan Yueqing’s face, his eyes sharp as a knife, "Forcibly twisting and altering the life trajectory is like attempting to move the galaxy with the strength of an ant, rowing against the current. Only those with great power, determination, and who bear immense karma can achieve it. And this act will inevitably incur the backlash of the Heavenly Dao, its intensity unimaginable to those who haven’t experienced it firsthand."

He paused, seemingly to confirm Yan Yueqing’s understanding, then asked in a deep voice, "The ’crossing of time boundaries’ you mentioned... such means are beyond human power, akin to the legendary might of gods, touching upon the taboo domain of the universe’s fundamental laws. Do you know what power intervened? What is its purpose?"

Yan Yueqing did not directly mention the names Su Zihu or Jun Lii, aware of the complex karma their names entailed, especially when she hadn’t fully understood her own situation.

She organized her words to describe the phenomenon, "What little I know is that there is an unfathomable force whose primary purpose is to sever a predetermined... extremely tragic ’outcome’ in the future..."

Thinking of everything Su Zihu had done for her, she felt a pang of heartache, "For this, he didn’t hesitate to pay an unimaginable price, ascending against the current, forcibly detonating a ’cause’—a deadly trap and disaster—that was supposed to erupt at some future moment, triggering it at a past time point. The intention was to cut off the ’effect’ that would inevitably lead to a tragic outcome at its source."

She paused slightly, observing Gu Shouzhuo’s reaction, seeing a flicker of understanding and a deeper gravity in his eyes, she continued:

"This seemingly changeful act is akin to throwing a giant stone into the long river of spacetime, stirring up monstrous waves and chaotic vortices. It not only forcibly disrupted my original life trajectory, causing the time disorder you perceived, but also thoroughly entangled my karma line... as well as that of many others related."

"And the root of the severe damage to my soul comes from that disaster which was forcibly moved to the past by this force—a devastating explosion that was supposed to occur three years later but was advanced to five years ago."

"Five years..." Gu Shouzhuo repeated softly, fingers subconsciously tapping the cold stone table beside him, making a low and rhythmic "thud, thud" sound, as if he were conducting invisible deductions and calculations. "The ’cause’ that was supposed to be three years in the future was moved to five years ago to detonate... this creates a time difference... eight years..."

He closed his eyes, deep thought creases forming between his brows.

The aura around him seemed to connect with the mountain beneath his feet and the sky above, becoming ethereal and grand.

Yan Yueqing held her breath, concentrating, not daring to disturb. Even the mountain wind seemed tactfully quiet.

After a moment, Gu Shouzhuo suddenly opened his eyes, starlight seemingly flowing within them, piercing through layers of fog, "I see! It all aligns perfectly now!"

His tone carried the assurance of unraveling a mystery, "Forcibly moving the ’disaster cause’ destined to erupt in the future to a past time point, this is no simple change, it’s the most thorough alteration of fate! In essence, it’s forcefully tearing the warp and weft of spacetime, distorting the local rules of the universe!"

His voice bore a touch of heart-palpitating coldness, continuing, "This act is like casting a ten-thousand-fathom mountain into a calm mirror-like spacetime lake! It stirs more than mere ripples; it’s a tsunami capable of overturning the riverbed and changing the flow direction! This power must confront the powerful inertia of your life trajectory—that obstinate pull towards a ’tragic outcome’—and also withstand the terrifying backlash from the forced distortion of the spacetime structure! Double pressure, double tearing!"

His sharp gaze pierced into Yan Yueqing, "No wonder your soul foundation was so heavily damaged! The wounds are far beyond the physical impact and psychic shock of that explosion itself! More profound and lethal are the source-tearing wounds caused by the spacetime force forcibly twisting your existence essence! Your soul body was torn apart and stitched back together in the storm of spacetime!"

His tone shifted, carrying a trace of cold killing intent, "And you mentioned that the explosion was man-made? Is it... Jiang Ke?"

"Yes!" Yan Yueqing’s eyes instantly filled with ice, that very name carried excruciating pain and hatred.

Gu Shouzhuo was unsurprised by the name, evidently not entirely ignorant of the undercurrents within the Jiang Family and the "accident" aimed at Yan Yueqing back then.

"Jiang Ke..." he slowly chewed on the name, his gaze sharp as a falcon, "She acted against you five years ago, choosing a time so rushed, a place relatively weak in Jiang Family’s influence... this is no spur-of-the-moment decision or simple conflict of interest. The only explanation is..."

He gazed intently at Yan Yueqing, "She, or the true mastermind behind her, had preemptively sensed... signs of ’timeline disturbance’!"